Why is defining life so frustratingly difficult? Why have scientists and philosophers failed for centuries to find a specific physical property or set of properties that clearly separates the living from the inanimate? Because such a property does not exist. Life is a concept that we invented. On the most fundamental level, all matter that … Continue reading Why Life Does Not Really Exist | Brainwaves, Scientific American Blog Network
Category: Zeitgeist
Why it’s time to lay the selfish gene to rest – David Dobbs – Aeon
The grasshopper, he noted, sports long legs and wings, walks low and slow, and dines discreetly in solitude. The locust scurries hurriedly and hoggishly on short, crooked legs and joins hungrily with others to form swarms that darken the sky and descend to chew the farmer’s fields bare. Related, yes, just as grasshoppers and crickets … Continue reading Why it’s time to lay the selfish gene to rest – David Dobbs – Aeon
BBC News – ‘Memories’ pass between generations
Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their "grandchildren". More at BBC News - 'Memories' pass between generations. I saw this yesterday, but was reluctant to link … Continue reading BBC News – ‘Memories’ pass between generations
Can a Computer be Conscious? Part 3 (Ethics)
6 Reasons Why People — Not Things — Will Make You Happier
The holiday season is the time to focus on what's truly important: Spending quality time with friends and family, being thankful for all the blessings in your life, and showing how much you care by giving of yourself. But after being bombarded with commercials and marketing messages galore, it can be easy to forget what … Continue reading 6 Reasons Why People — Not Things — Will Make You Happier
The cult of justice – Charlie’s Diary
One of the problems with what I do is that I look for patterns in human behaviour, and once I see them I have difficulty un-seeing them. And there's a set of patterns I keep seeing that are implicit in our news reportage—specifically, the reporting of legal cases. Patterns which seem to me to have … Continue reading The cult of justice – Charlie’s Diary
8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper
8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper. An interesting post at HuffPost on the effects of music on our brain's processing. In a perhaps not entirely rigorous manner, a chart linking different personality types is presented. I wonder what my habit of listening to podcasts on my daily walks … Continue reading 8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper
Robotic camera meets lion pride
I’m struck by how much the robot looked like an animal itself wondering into the pride. It’s a wonder the lions took as long as they did to treat it as prey.
Here’s a nice video of a photographer enclosing a Nikon in a robotic vehicle, directing it into a lion pride, and then snapping away remotely. There are some great photos here, and the lions’ behavior when they first see the tiny vehicle is priceless.
Of course one lion decides to nom the thing, but the camera and its photos survive.
h/t: Jacobus
Five predictions about our virtual future
Michio Kaku tends to be a bit pie in the sky, but his views are always interesting.
A Scientist Predicts the Future
When making predictions, I have two criteria: the laws of physics must be obeyed and prototypes must exist that demonstrate “proof of principle.” I’ve interviewed more than 300 of the world’s top scientists, and many allowed me into laboratories where they are inventing the future. Their accomplishments and dreams are eye-opening. From my conversations with them, here’s a glimpse of what to expect in the coming decades: 1. Computers Will Disappear. According to Moore’s Law, computer power doubles every 18 months. That means in a decade or so, chips will cost about a penny, the cost of scrap paper. Computers as we now know them will disappear; they will be everywhere and nowhere, ubiquitous yet hidden, just like electricity and running water. The cloud will follow us silently and seamlessly, carrying out our wishes anytime, anywhere. 2. Augmented Reality Will Be Everyday Reality. Remember the…
View original post 18 more words
Reinstalling Eden : Nature : Nature Publishing Group
Eve, I call her. She awakes, wondering where she is and how she got there. She admires the beauty of the island. She cracks a coconut, drinks its juice and tastes its flesh. Her cognitive skills, her range of emotions, the richness of her sensory experiences, all rival my own. She thinks about where she … Continue reading Reinstalling Eden : Nature : Nature Publishing Group
SelfAwarePatterns 